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A review by trike
George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards: The Hard Call by Daniel Abraham
3.0
It’s always nice to visit the Wild Cards universe and I enjoyed this story. The one big fault for me was that Croyd Crenson, aka The Sleeper, seems really over-the-top violent in this incarnation. I suppose that can be handwaved away due to his unique power — every time he goes to sleep he transforms into something else — and the way he deals with it, by popping enough amphetamines to levitate a horse, but he went for punching every time he had a choice. Croyd is one of the original Wild Card characters, both fictionally and in terms of the books, so I’m pretty familiar with him. Just feels somewhat out of character, is all.
Wild Cards is probably the darkest of the superhero universes, very much in the film noir/hardboiled detective vein, and this story about the physical dangers and emotional ramifications of the virus as well as taking the cure (the “trump card” virus) is right in line with that darker style.
Other than the Croyd thing it’s a solid story, as is the short follow-up tale about two young Jehovah’s Witnesses assigned to Jokertown. One freaks out while the other embraces empathy. Nothing worldshaking, but solid.
The art is well-done, too. No complaints there.
Wild Cards is probably the darkest of the superhero universes, very much in the film noir/hardboiled detective vein, and this story about the physical dangers and emotional ramifications of the virus as well as taking the cure (the “trump card” virus) is right in line with that darker style.
Other than the Croyd thing it’s a solid story, as is the short follow-up tale about two young Jehovah’s Witnesses assigned to Jokertown. One freaks out while the other embraces empathy. Nothing worldshaking, but solid.
The art is well-done, too. No complaints there.